Handwork for Junior 



B V 



Societies 



k 



By 



REV, ROBERT P, ANDERSON 




Glass J 

Book 

GofiyrightN°_ 



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COEHRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Handwork for Junior 
Societies 



By 
REV. ROBERT P. ANDERSON 






United Society of Christian Endeavor 

Boston Chicago 






Copyrighted, 1921 

by the 

United Society of Christian Endeavor 



•r 

AUG 31 1921 
©CI.A624145 



FOREWORD 

Few teachers of Sunday-school classes, or 
superintendents of Junior Christian En- 
deavor societies, or leaders of any organiza- 
tion of children are fully satisfied with the 
way in which their work is done. All are 
more or less aware of the fact that there are 
times when they do not hold the interest of 
the children, or do not "put over" the les- 
sons they are striving to teach. 

The following pages are intended to sug- 
gest one way in which teachers, superin- 
tendents, and leaders may enlist the activi- 
ties of the children in the interest of religious 
instruction. We can teach through ear-gate. 
We can teach still better if we also use eye- 
gate. And we can teach still better if we 
use the child's desire to make things and 
show him how to make models of the scenes 
of the stories he listens to, and of the persons 
who are actors in these stories. Handwork 
strengthens immensely the impression made 

3 



4 FOREWORD 

by words. A scene which a child sees and 
which he even helps to set up, becomes his 
very own. He works himself into it. 

This book may be used in Sunday-school 
classes, in clubs, in societies like the Junior 
Christian Endeavor society, or Junior Ep- 
worth League. To avoid repetition we speak 
of the superintendent and the Juniors, but 
the phraseology does not matter. The im- 
portant thing is to have teachers of children 
use whatever methods are workable to get 
closer to the children's interests and to fix in 
their minds precious Bible truths. 

Kobert P. Anderson, 

Boston, Mass. , 



CONTENTS 



Foreword . 


i • i 


3 


PART I 




The Religious Use of Handwork 


Handwork for Juniors . 


9 


For Little Ones .... 




18 


Work for Juniors above Seven 


. 


• 23 


Handwork Applied 




• 27 


Handwork and the Topics . 




• 36 


PART II 




Special Instructions 




Card-Sewing . 


• 45 


Paper-Cutting 




• 47 


Using Colors 




• Si 


Paper -Tearing . 




• 52 


Work with Stencils 




• 54 


Envelopes, Boxes, and Portfolios 




. 56 


Bookbinding . 




. 61 


A Calendar Pad . 




66 


A Memorandum Pad . 




• 7o 



6 CONTENTS 








How to Make a Checkerboard . . 72 


Scrap-Book or Postal-Card Album . 






74 


Fancy Boxes . • . 






> 77 


Other Articles . 






. 78 


Paper-Folding 






• 79 


Coping-Saw Work 






. 80 


Whittling . . . 






. 82 


Modelling — Clay and Plasticene . 






■ 83 


Raffia Work .... 






. 86 


A Napkin Ring . 






. 90 


A Calendar 






. 9 1 


A Pincushion and a Stampbox 






. 92 


More Raffia Work 






• 93 


Construction Work 






► 94 


The Making of Maps . 






. 98 


Map Work in Papier- M ache . 






102 


Blackboard Work 






. 105 


Bottle Dolls 






in 


Making Posters . 






. 116 


Supplies .... 






, 120 


Books on Handwork 






. 122 



PART I 

The Religious Use of Handwork 



HANDWORK FOR JUNIORS 

Two things are essential for successful 
work with Juniors. The superintendent or 
teacher must be able to get the attention and 
the interest of the children. A society or a 
class in which the Juniors are in constant 
motion, not to say commotion, where there is 
a constant buzz of shuffling or whispering, 
and where each Junior is busily occupied 
with his own affairs and not with the prog- 
ress of the meeting, is not achieving its object. 

In such cases one observes that the superin- 
tendent will try to get the attention of the 
Juniors by ringing a bell or striking the desk. 
The noise arrests their attention, but only for 
a moment. Evidently they are not interested 
in what is going forward. 

Observe, however, a group of children 
listening to a fairy tale that an expert is tell- 
ing. Notice the rapt attention, the manifest 
interest ! 

9 



10 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

The problem of the Junior superintendent, 
then, is to gain the attention and interest of 
the children. How is it to be done ? 

Now children are interested in what con- 
cerns them, in what comes within their ex- 
perience and touches their life. If we talk 
over their heads they lose interest and atten- 
tion drifts. The superintendent must there- 
fore always try to get the Juniors' point of 
view and think in the simplest terms of a 
child's life. She must link on her lessons to 
things that children know already, the home, 
the school, the street, and so forth. 

Children are further interested in doing 
things. The impulse to make things is strong 
within their hearts. They do not care much 
about the materials they use; imagination 
clothes the most unlikely things with magic 
qualities. They will build houses out of 
small pebbles. A piece of wood is a dog or a 
cat or a savage. Mud is moulded into pies. 
The mind is developed as the hands try to 
fashion things. Knowledge comes through 
activity. 

Many a restless society would be trans- 
formed if the Juniors were given things to 



HANDWORK FOR JUNIORS 11 

do. Both attention and interest would be 
won. Not only so — for this is not merely a 
subtle device for keeping children quiet while 
we instruct them — but through their manual 
activity they would get a firmer grasp of the 
truths we try to teach them. It is infinitely 
easier to teach geography with the help of a 
sand-board or a pulp map, than it is with- 
out these aids. To tell children the story of 
Old Testament heroes, or of Jesus, or of mis- 
sionaries, is all very well, but if at the same 
time we construct the story by means of 
models of houses and persons, which the 
Juniors themselves make, we create a much 
deeper and more lasting impression. 

Some superintendents have used handwork 
in their Junior societies, but the great major- 
ity have not ; and those that have admit that 
they have not utilized the opportunity as 
they ought. 

The following pages are meant to help 
superintendents to make a start in the direc- 
tion of introducing handwork into the so- 
cieties. For those superintendents who have 
been or who are school teachers, this will be 
easy, for handwork is taught in many schools. 



12 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

What we want to do is to make use of hand- 
work in the interest of Bible teaching and of 
religion. 

The natural impulse of many superin- 
tendents will be to say, "I cannot make 
things, and therefore I cannot teach the 
Juniors how to make them." What you can 
do might astonish you if you would try. A 
very little practice at home, or a few lessons 
from a school teacher who gives instruction 
in handwork, or from some girl or boy in 
the Young People's society who has a talent 
for this sort of thing, will work wonders. 

The introduction of handwork, however, 
opens up another avenue of service for young 
people. If possible the superintendent 
should get one or two young people from the 
older society to come and act as instructors 
in handwork for the Juniors. Many young 
people will be glad to do this who would hesi- 
tate about becoming assistant superin- 
tendents. When they come into the work 
and grow interested in the Juniors, as they 
surely will, they will find it hard to pull 
out. Their presence and aid will greatly 
strengthen the society and a new generation 



HANDWORK FOR JUNIORS 13 

of workers may be trained who, for sheer 
love of the work, will rise to help the Juniors. 

A very important question arises, namely, 
when can handwork be done ? 

Let us say that in your society there is a 
group of children under seven years of age. 
The thing to do with them, after the open- 
ing exercises of the regular meeting, is to take 
them into a room by themselves and study 
the topic with an assistant superintendent as 
leader. Part of the time of the meeting may 
be given to handwork, but not too much time. 
Sometimes the pasting of a figure cut out of 
paper is enough to give expression to the 
thought of the children, but at times it may 
seem wise to allow them to make figures out 
of plasticene or clay. Generally speaking 
handwork — that is, the making of things — 
should be kept out of the regular meeting of 
the society. 

In older societies actual handwork should 
be kept entirely out of the meeting hour, too 
short as it is already for the many things to 
do. In it, however, work done on a week- 
night may be used to illustrate the topic. 

The ideal thing is a handwork class one 



14 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

afternoon or evening a week. Under proper 
instructors this class will take up the vari- 
ous arts suggested in the following pages. 
One group may do paper-cutting or tearing, 
another group may do modelling, another 
group basket-weaving or portfolio-making. 
Or, if desired, the whole class may do one 
kind of work. 

We must never lose sight of the object of 
this work. The things made are for use in 
the society or class, or for gift purposes, for 
example, the making of scrap-books for sick 
children. Everything must have an aim. 
The children must feel that they are doing 
worth-while things. 

In the meeting choose the time very care- 
fully when the articles previously made are 
to be used. In the right place the use of 
handwork will impress the lesson thought on 
the minds of the Juniors; in the wrong place 
it will dissipate the influence of the lesson. 
After all, handwork is only a shell contain- 
ing a truth. It must not be made the centre 
of the meeting. At best it is an accessory. 

Ingenious superintendents will find many 
other things to do than are suggested in this 



HANDWORK FOR JUNIORS 15 

book. The field is a wide one and is prac- 
tically untouched. 

It may be worth while to point out that the 
superintendent or leader of a class in hand- 
work should work along with the children, 
not only showing them how to make the vari- 
ous articles, but making them herself. Chil- 
dren work better when worked with than 
when merely directed. 

Some superintendents may shrink from 
starting a class because they have no aptitude 
to make articles. They should remember 
that perfect articles are not called for. They 
should do their best, working among the 
Juniors, and sharing the fun with them. 
There are not half a dozen superintendents 
in the country who could not successfully 
teach a class of this kind. And those that 
try will themselves be benefited. 

In many cases the equipment for hand- 
work for the Juniors will be supplied by the 
church. In other cases the Junior society 
itself or the class may buy its own equipment. 
In yet other instances, friends of the chil- 
dren will be glad to contribute toward this 
cause. The Senior society, however, may 



16 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

suitably have a hand in this work. The 
young people might give a social, the pro- 
ceeds of which could go toward the Junior- 
equipment fund. It would be found easy to 
get a tidy sum for this purpose. 

Exhibitions of the handwork of the Juniors 
should be held from time to time in the 
church. Advertise the Junior society in this 
way. Half the people of the church do not 
know what the Juniors are doing or trying 
to do. 

Similar exhibitions may be held at Junior 
rallies and at Junior conventions. At such 
gatherings fine interest would be created if a 
small prize, a Junior library, or banner were 
offered to the society that brought to the 
rally or convention the best Junior hand- 
work. Junior unions can stimulate among 
the societies interest in handwork by making 
the exhibition a delightful as well as instruct- 
ive feature of the regular rallies. 

Unions of Young People's societies may 
also find interest in Junior handwork if it is 
exhibited at the local-union rally or at the 
county or State convention. The local union 
will do well to plan a Junior handwork ban- 



HANDWORK FOR JUNIORS 17 

ner to go to the society that makes the best 
exhibit. 

Both at Junior rallies and conventions, and 
at local-union rallies, a splendid feature 
would be a model Junior-handwork meeting 
when the Juniors showed how they work in 
paper, model in clay or plasticene, make 
paper-pulp maps, or work with the sand-tray. 
Such a demonstration would certainly have 
the effect of deciding other societies to intro- 
duce handwork. 



18 HANDWORK FOE JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



FOR LITTLE ONES 

Work for Juniors under seven years of 
age will, of course, be different from that 
done by Juniors above seven. In cases where 
the Junior meeting for little tots is held dur- 
ing the morning church hour, part of the 
time should be given to the topic, telling a 
simple story, singing, a little memory work, 
and a little handwork. This latter will be 
of the nature of kindergarten work. Its aim 
is largely to teach the Juniors to handle ma- 
terial well and to follow the creative impulse 
to make something. Free play should be 
given to the child's imagination, hence only 
the merest suggestions should be given as to 
what to make. Sometimes the results will be 
good; but when they are poor they are not 
valueless by any means. The child is learn- 
ing, and that is the main thing. 

Pencil, crayons, or crayolas, and paper 
should be provided, and the Juniors should 
be told what to draw. Sometimes a pattern 



FOR LITTLE ONES 19 

may be shown them; sometimes they may be 
told to sketch an article that has been men- 
tioned in the lesson. Paper and scissors may 
be given them and they may be asked to cut 
out figures. Use may be made of pictures of 
Christ and the apostles in general use in the 
Sunday school. The Juniors will naturally 
try to approximate these if they are hung on 
the wall. 

If the superintendent or workers can give 
the Juniors patterns or pictures drawn on 
paper, the Juniors may color them with 
crayons. 

Juniors of this age may paste postal cards 
back to back, making a double picture, and 
these cards may be sent to children's hos- 
pitals or to the mission field. 

They may be given figures to cut out of 
paper and mount on sheets of paper, as will 
be described later. These sheets may be 
neatly tied together, forming picture-books 
which may be sent to shut-ins or to hospitals 
for children. In this way tKe figure of 
Christ may be cut out and mounted, and a 
title written underneath. Sometimes a scene 
may be built up with several disconnected 



20 HANDWOBK FOE JUKIOR SOCIETIES 

figures in it: Christ blessing little children; 
a brood of hens to illustrate the text, "0 
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I 
have gathered thy children together, even as 
a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings ' ' (Matt* 23 :27) . Pictures with houses, 
a sower sowing seed, and so forth, may be 
used for this purpose. 

Even at this age Juniors will want to make 
things with plasticene, clay, or paper pulp. 
If they are shown pictures of altars, oriental 
houses, an oriental lamp, or other object, they 
will imitate them with more or less exactness, 
but always with profit to themselves. Pic- 
tures of objects suitable for work of this kind 
the superintendent will find in Sunday- 
school magazines, lesson helps, Sunday- 
school handbooks, missionary magazines, and 
books on foreign lands. 

The Juniors will also make large manila 
envelopes and portfolios, first of all to keep 
their handwork in, and secondly, to use for 
envelope collections of jokes, stories, and pic- 
tures, which may be sent to shut-ins or to 
a children's hospital. 

Simple scrap-books may be made. Dolls 



FOR LITTLE ONES 21 

may also be made out of clothes pins, or 
better still, out of small bottles (see descrip- 
tion later). If the girls are old enough to 
use needles, card-sewing may be introduced. 
In this way book-marks and Scripture texts 
may be made with colored silk or wool on 
cardboard. 

Juniors of this age may also be taught to 
discriminate between colors. They should be 
given a number of threads of colored wool 
and told to arrange them neatly in their 
proper order, beginning with the darkest 
shades. 

In telling stories dealing with Bible char- 
acters and journeys, for example, the story 
of the Good Samaritan, a sand-tray may be 
utilized, stones being used to indicate cities 
and houses, and small dolls to represent the 
people. It will be easy to secure a toy ass 
to represent the Samaritan's ass which car- 
ried the wounded Jew to safety. 

There is endless opportunity for making 
things to illustrate Bible topics. Juniors can 
cut Easter lilies out of pasteboard. They 
can cut out flowers and birds, Bible animals, 
figures of men and women (which may be 



22 HANDWOEK FOE JUNIOE SOCIETIES 

stuck in sand on a sand-tray to make them 
stand upright while the story is being told), 
and so on. They can make symbolic designs 
like the cross, the dove, the Bethlehem star, 
the shepherd's crook, and the crown. Young 
children do not understand symbolism, how- 
ever, so that sparing use should be made of 
all except the very simplest symbols. 

All of the work here suggested cannot, of 
course, be done during the meeting hour. 
Often a very little handwork is enough. 
Everything depends on the interest. Even 
young Juniors may attend a handwork class, 
especially if it can be held in the afternoon 
of a week day. 



WORK FOR JUNIORS ABOVE SEVEN 23 



WORK FOR JUNIORS ABOVE SEVEN 

Juniors between seven and ten years of 
age may do all the work suggested for 
younger children. They will get better re- 
sults, however, and they will begin to think 
of the objects for which they are making 
things. The growing ability to draw illus- 
trations should be made use of in the regular 
Junior meeting. The drawing on the black- 
board, or on a large sheet of paper hung in 
front of the society, may be crude, but it has 
more value than an elaborate picture drawn 
by an artist. It is something done by the 
Juniors themselves, an expression of their 
inner life. 

Modelling in plastieene, clay, paper pulp, 
the making of maps — drawing them, or 
modelling 'them with paper pulp — making 
picture frames, paper-cutting, card-sewing, 
collecting flowers and mounting them, wood 
work, raffia work, and so forth, are among 
the things that may be done. 



24 HAJSTDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

Children above ten years of age make 
larger demands upon themselves than younger 
children. They look more to the result of 
their labors. They think of the uses to which 
an object is to be put. They are continually 
asking "Why?" In day school they will 
probably be getting handwork, and if so, the 
superintendent may make use of their grow- 
ing proficiency in the interest of religion. 
They will be able to draw patterns for bor- 
ders, to be used in ornamenting picture 
frames or birthday books or scrap-books for 
missionary committees, or for envelopes to 
be sent to shut-ins. They will take up fret- 
work and other forms of wood work, model- 
ling, collecting missionary pictures, and so 
on, almost endlessly. 

Many events in the life of Christ can be 
used for handwork. The story of His birth, 
for instance : the Juniors may cut out of stiff 
paper a stable, animals, ass, sheep, goats, a 
shepherd's crook, pilgrims, a camel, a star, 
a king and crown, a city wall with turrets, 
and so forth. 

The story of the baptism of Jesus calls for 
objects, cut from stiff paper, like the temple, 



WORK FOE JUNIORS ABOVE SEVEK 25 

bread, angel, dove, men. Some of the para- 
bles may be visualized by this means : the ten 
virgins with their lamps; the missing coin, 
the lost sheep, the prodigal son. The last 
days of Jesus offer great possibilities along 
this line: the city, the city gate, children, 
palm branches, the temple, grapes, the cup, 
crosses, and so on. 

Juniors may also select a Bible verse and 
cut from magazines the letters necessary to 
make it, mounting the letters on cardboard, 
and ornamenting the whole with a suitable 
border done in water colors or crayon. Deco- 
rative lettering may be used by older Juniors, 
the work being done with pen and ink, and 
colored. 

Posters, programmes, invitations to the 
meetings, attendance cards, souvenirs, and 
honor rolls may all be made by the Juniors. 

The superintendent will be able to build 
up a programme suitable for her Juniors, out 
of the suggestions that follow. Do not at- 
tempt to do everything at once. Take one or 
two things at a time or the Juniors will be 
bewildered. Seek assistants from among the 
young people of the Christian Endeavor so- 



26 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

ciety or the church. To work with the 
Juniors, to keep ahead of them in their hand- 
work, will be a liberal education to any one 
that takes up the work. He will help the 
Juniors, but he will also help himself. 



HANDWORK APPLIED 27 



HANDWORK APPLIED 

As we have already suggested, handwork 
done by the Juniors may be applied to a large 
number of Bible topics. The work of the 
.superintendent or assistant in such cases will 
consist in carefully reading the Bible story 
and noting the objects which the Juniors may 
make; then in looking up the proper shape 
of these objects in a book on Palestine, or a 
Bible dictionary, and thus fitting herself to 
show the Juniors what to make. All kinds 
of materials may be used, cardboard, paper, 
plasticene, papier-mache, raffia, sand-tray, 
and so on. 



The Birth of Christ 

Read the account of the nativity in 
Matthew and Luke. Luke gives the longer 
story and begins earlier in point of time, so 
Luke should first be studied. 

Piles of sand on the tray will represent the 



28 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

hills of Bethlehem. Small stones will sug- 
gest houses, and a pile of stones, a city. The 
Juniors may cut out of paper forms to rep- 
resent shepherds. Or better work may be 
done if the figures are made of plasticene; 
or small bottle dolls may be used. Sheep 
may be cut out of cardboard and stuck in the 
sand. A number of angels may be cut out 
of white paper. 

As the story is told — by the Juniors them- 
selves, if possible — build up the scene by 
means of the figures, which the Juniors will 
have prepared at their handwork meeting. 
It will seldom be possible to do the actual 
handwork in the meeting where it is to be 
used. 

The verse, " Glory to God in the highest," 
may be prepared as a motto and used in the 
meeting, and a Christmas hymn embodying 
the angels' song may be used. 

Now shift the scene to Bethlehem. One 
of the older Juniors will have prepared at 
the handwork meeting an oriental house. 
Cardboard may be used and fixed in the sand 
on the sand-tray; or the walls may be built 
up of plasticene or papier-mache. Strips of 



HANDWORK APPLIED 29 

raffia may be used to support the flat roof of 
papier-mache or whatever material is used. 

The Juniors will also have prepared figures, 
cut from cardboard, or made out of small 
bottles, or of plasticene, to represent the inn* 
keeper, his wife, and guests. 

A small stable near the larger house should 
also be prepared beforehand. Around the 
stable should be placed animals cut from 
cardboard or made of plasticene — asses, 
camels, goats, sheep, and so on. 

Then there should be figures of Joseph and 
Mary, and a manger, in which a doll to repre- 
sent the baby Jesus should be laid. A little 
hay or dried grass scattered about the stable 
will make the picture seem more real. 

The scene at Bethlehem must be built up 
as the shepherd scene was built up, while 
the story is being told. Then the shepherds 
should be introduced. 

The third part of the birth story of Jesus 
is given in Matthew's gospel. A large pile 
of stones will represent Jerusalem. It may 
be possible to place among them a small 
model of a palace, the home of Herod. This 
may be made of cardboard or plasticene. 



30 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

The Juniors will also cut from cardboard 
the figures of the three wise men. As their 
story is told, a star will be shown the Juniors. 
Figures of Herod (colored, if possible, in 
purple robe) and his soldiers should be made. 
The wise men come to the palace with their 
question, " Where is He that is born King of 
the Jews?" Arrange the scene of the inter- 
view the wise men had with the king. 

Introduce figures to represent scribes and 
Pharisees, to whom the king appeals to find 
out where the Messiah should be born. Stage 
this scene as the story is being told — the fig- 
ures having all been made beforehand. 

Set the scene for the dream which warned 
the wise men away from Herod, outside the 
city. Prepare three tents for this scene. 
Have an angel approach the tents and then 
tell the story of the dream. 

The wise men probably travelled on asses, 
so that asses must also be provided. 

As soon as the enrolling or the census was 
over, there would be accommodation for 
Jesus and His parents in an ordinary house. 
Have an oriental house ready for this part 
of the story. Suspend the star by means of 



HANDWORK APPLIED 31 

a thin thread and move it slowly until it is 
above the house. Have the wise men follow 
the star. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus live in 
this house, and the parents bring out the 
child when the wise men come. Tell the 
story of the gifts and indicate the return 
journey of the wise men by another road 
than the Jerusalem road, so that they may 
escape Herod. 

Use the angel when telling the story of 
Joseph's dream, and indicate the flight of 
the family to Egypt. We are told that Mary 
and Jesus rode on an ass. Joseph is usually 
pictured walking by the side of the ass. 



The Life at Nazareth 

Little is known of the life of Jesus at 
Nazareth, but since it doubtless was the same 
as the life of ordinary boys, it should be easy 
to give a representation of some of the en- 
vironment. 

Stones will represent the city. A small 
circular wall will indicate a well, and a 
Junior may cut out a paper or cardboard 
bucket or jar with which water might be 



32 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

drawn. Tell how the people went to draw 
water at the wells. Perhaps Jesus often did 
this for His mother. Ver jr likely He played 
at the well with other small boys. 

The Juniors will cut out a house from 
cardboard, or build one with plasticene or 
papier-mache. Near this house erect an- 
other to represent the workshop where Jesus 
learned the trade of carpenter. Cardboard 
or bottle figures may be used to represent 
Joseph, Mary, the brothers and sisters of 
Jesus — four brothers; the number of sisters 
is uncertain. Shavings about the door of the 
workshop will indicate the character of the 
work done there. Of course many figures 
may be used to represent the town's people 
and neighbors. 

Try to make the boyhood life of Jesus nat- 
ural. Tell of the games children in His day 
played. He Himself mentions children who 
played at funerals and at marriage feasts. 
Use small figures to indicate such games. 

The Juniors will also make some of the car- 
penter's tools such as Jesus might use. For 
instance, a plumb line; a square; a saw; a 
plane. Lessons that Jesus might have learned 



HANDWORK APPLIED 33 

from these tools might be suggested to the 
Juniors to speak about as the tools are shown. 
The plumb line tells of uprightness, right- 
eousness, the doing of duty, living straight. 
The square speaks of the square deal, doing 
right to every one, living on the square with 
everybody, never lying, never swerving from 
the true path. The saw speaks of division, 
pain, cutting, and suggests how people are 
divided, how they cause one another pain. 
The plane smooths wood, removes the rough 
places, and suggests polish, courtesy, the 
sweet ministrations of love. 

It is obvious that in preparing for these 
lessons the superintendent must look ahead. 
The safe way is to make a list of the objects 
needed for each lesson and have the Juniors 
make these objects in the handwork meeting. 
They should be told the story they are work- 
ing to illustrate. A crowd of Juniors, of 
course, will make far more objects than can 
be used in the meeting proper; but it is a 
good plan to let the Juniors make as many 
objects as they will. The superintendent 
may then choose the best of them for the 
work in the meeting. The Juniors will be 



34: HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

interested in making objects so well that they 
will be used in the meeting. Of course the 
superintendent will encourage all by using 
even inferior work at times in order to in- 
spire the workers. 

The Boy Jesus 

The visit of Jesus and His parents to Jeru- 
salem when the boy was twelve years old 
forms the topic of an interesting study. The 
objects needed are here outlined, as any 
superintendent might outline them when 
reading the story, Luke 2 : 41-52. 

Crowds of figures representing the pilgrims 
that came to Jerusalem to attend the feast 
of passover. 

The feast of the passover itself. Tell the 
story (see Exod. 12). Clay huts, homes of 
Israelites in Egypt. Lamb. Eed paint above 
the doorposts, to represent the blood of the 
lamb. A few stalks of a plant to represent 
bitter herbs. (If desired the whole story 
may be presented, the flight, the passage 
across the Eed Sea, Pharaoh's chariots and 
soldiers, and so forth.) 

Joseph, Mary, and their neighbors leaving 



HANDWORK APPLIED 35 

Jerusalem. Jesus not with them. Figures 
cut from cardboard or made of bottle dolls. 

The camp at night. Small paper tents. 
Fires. Cooking utensils. Discovery that 
Jesus is not with them. Their return jour- 
ney. 

Cardboard model of the temple. This need 
not be exact, but it should have a court in 
which the teachers sit, Jesus among them 
asking questions. 

The return to Nazareth. 



36 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



HANDWORK AND THE TOPICS 

The application of handwork to Bible 
stories is comparatively easy, because the 
story is there at hand, and all we have to 
do is to create the proper environment, which 
is usually indicated in the story itself. To 
apply handwork to the regular Junior topic 
calls for a great deal more thought; but the 
effort is worth while, for the topic will be 
infinitely better impressed on the minds of 
the Juniors when it is reinforced by hand- 
work models than when it is studied in the 
usual way. 

Missionary topics are both interesting and 
easy. Like Bible stories, missionary stories 
have settings which are already more or less 
fixed, and which are usually indicated in 
books on missions. These books will have to 
be consulted, and any information that may 
be gleaned from magazines, or any other 
source, about missionary lands, the appear- 
ance of the country, the kind of houses the 



HANDWORK AND THE TOPIC* 37 

people live in, the furniture used, and so 
forth, will be of great assistance. 

The hardest topics are those that deal with 
abstract principles or moral ideals. Sup- 
pose we take a topic like this: "What Chris- 
tians Should Be Like. ' ' What kind of hand- 
work is adapted to enforce the lessons that 
may be drawn from this subject? 

The superintendent should study the topic 
weeks before the meeting and list the things 
she wishes the Juniors to make in prepara- 
tion for it. Suppose she wishes to teach the 
simple truth that Christians should be like 
Christ, she may enforce it in this way: she 
may have the Juniors at their handwork 
meeting make a bottle doll to represent 
Jesus; then twelve dolls to represent the 
twelve apostles; then one to represent Paul; 
and then other smaller dolls to represent or- 
dinary Christians. If bottle dolls cannot be 
made in time, then figures can be cut out of 
cardboard to represent those persons just 
named. 

In the meeting she may show the doll that 
represents Jesus while a Junior tells what 
Jesus was like. For example, He was kind. 



38 HANDWORK FOB JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

The Junior may be instructed to give an in- 
stance of His kindness, and thus may men- 
tion one of Christ's miracles of healing. But 
this story may be told by means of dolls and 
other helps, just as any other Bible story 
may be told. Hence the superintendent will 
have to see to it that at the handwork meet- 
ing the models of persons, houses, trees, and 
so on, that are spoken of in the story of the 
healing, are made by the Juniors so as to be 
ready for use in the society's meeting. 

When this story is told the models used in 
telling it are put aside, Jesus alone remain- 
ing. Then another Junior may tell how the 
apostles followed Christ, healing and helping 
people. It is not well to go too far afield in 
using models to illustrate every story men- 
tioned; it is obvious that models could be 
used to illustrate some of the stories in the 
Acts of the Apostles. But pass this by. 
Range the apostles behind the model of 
Jesus; they are following Him. Then place 
the Christians there ; they, too, follow Him. 

A Junior will speak on " Following Jesus.' 9 
We cannot follow Him literally, as the apos- 
tles did, but we can imitate Him, we can be 



HANDWORK AND THE TOPICS 39 

kind, as He was kind, and we can do good as 
He did good. 

Perhaps this is all the handwork that we 
need for a single meeting, unless a Junior 
tells a story which may be illustrated with 
models. 

There will be a blackboard-talk of some 
kind. A Junior should do the blackboard 
work. Perhaps for this topic an acrostic 
might be made on the name Jesus. Thus: 

Just 

Example 

Sympathetic 

Unselfish 

Saviour. 

Several Juniors will give talks on these 
words. They will tell how Jesus was just 
and never wronged any one, and we should 
imitate Him in this respect; He was an ex- 
ample of goodness, and so should we be. He 
was sympathetic, He wept with the sisters 
of Lazarus; and so should we sympathize 
with others. He was unselfish, dying for 
us; we should try to be like Him in His un- 



40 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

selfishness. He was Saviour, and we too may 
help to save our friends from going wrong if 
we love them enough. 

In some instances the topic is based on a 
Bible story, in which case the handwork part 
of the meeting will illustrate the story. Thus, 
the topic, "Making Excuses" (Luke 14: 
16-24), affords us a great opportunity to im- 
press the story on the minds of the Juniors. 
We shall have the Juniors prepare in their 
handwork meeting the necessary models. 
There will be the man who invited the guests 
to the supper and the servant who called the 
guests. We shall have houses at the doors 
of which the servant will knock and deliver 
his message; we shall have the people who 
were invited; they will come to the door and 
talk with the servant, making their excuses. 
We shall also have the five yoke of oxen which 
one of the guests is going to prove. 

Stones will mark out the streets and lanes 
and the little dwellings of the poor. From 
these places the servant will gather guests to 
a banquet hall — which may be indicated by 
strips of cardboard. 

Besides this, of course, the blackboard may 



HANDWORK AND THE TOPICS 41 

be used ; but the above is all that is necessary 
for handwork. 

On the other hand, sometimes a good illus- 
tration of the topic may be found in the 
Bible, and this may be made the subject of 
handwork. When the subject is "Con- 
science," as it has been a number of times, 
the thing to do is to think of an illustration 
of the action of conscience, and use that. 
The case of Joseph's brethren is a splendid 
instance. There may be time to have a 
Junior tell the whole story of Joseph, but the 
incident that illustrates conscience comes in 
Genesis 42:21. The superintendent or her 
assistant must read the story very carefully 
and reconstruct the scene. There will be 
models of Joseph's brethren and of Jacob, 
his old father, and the scene will be in Pales- 
tine, where they live in tents. They are 
shepherds, so there will be sheep in the vicin- 
ity. The tents may be cut from paper. 
Bottle dolls for the people should be used, 
but paper figures will do. 

Now change the scene. We are in Egypt. 
Have a paper model of a palace. Bring the 
brethren into the presence of Joseph. Act 



42 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

out the scene, with the help of the dolls, while 
the story is told. Make the dolls speak. The 
Joseph doll, richly dressed in purple, will 
speak harshly to the others, and blame them 
for being spies. 

Joseph leaves them, and they begin to talk 
together. It is then they say, *' We are verily 
guilty concerning our brother, etc." Con- 
science is at work. Thus conscience is shown 
to be memory of evil done; and knowledge 
that the thing done was evil. Conscience 
may sleep for years, but it awakens at last. 
We may escape the consequences of our evil 
deeds for years, but at last we are punished. 

If this striking story is vividly told in con- 
nection with the handwork and the dolls, the 
Juniors will never forget it; nor will they 
ever forget its lesson of how men and women 
who do wrong are punished by their own 
consciences. 



PART II 

Special Instructions 



CABD-SEWING 

Card-sewing means that the Juniors sew 
patterns on cardboard. Perforated card- 
board may be bought at many book-stores, 
ready for use. The design is drawn on it and 
the worker fills in the pattern with colored 
thread or yarn, using a needle as in ordinary 
sewing, and passing the needle through the 
holes in the cardboard. 

If perforated cardboard cannot readily be 
obtained, take a common awl and perforate a 
piece of cardboard yourself. While doing 
this place a soft pad under the cardboard so 
that the awl may pass through easily. 

Some workers prefer first to draw the pat- 
tern on cardboard and perforate only the 
pattern. The background in this case may 
be left white, or colored with a wash of water 
color. 

Juniors may be taught to make book-marks 
in this way. They may also be shown how to 
make little attendance stars to be hung on an 

45 



46 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

honor roll. Of course all sorts of designs 
may be used. An honor roll itself may be 
made in this way by the older Juniors, the 
lettering, "Honor Roll," being done in silk 
or yarn. In a contest a service flag may be 
made, a star being sewed on in perforated 
work for each new member gained. 

A great many Bible objects may be made 
that could be used from time to time to 
illustrate Bible stories. Easter lilies, for 
instance; or a cross, an anchor, an oriental 
house, a lamp, animals, Jacob's well; or what 
could be more effective than a line to repre- 
sent a mountain on the top of which stand 
three crosses? The superintendent will find 
no difficulty in discovering uses to which 
card-sewing may be put. 



PAPER-CUTTING 47 



PAPER-CUTTING 

Juniors of all ages will enjoy paper-cut- 
ting. Blunt scissors should be procured for 
the younger Juniors, to avoid accidents. The 
superintendent and her assistants must be 
constantly on the lookout for suitable pic- 
tures. These should be cut out and used as 
patterns from which to make tracings for the 
Juniors to cut out. Manila paper may be 
used, or the back of left-over pieces of wall 
paper. Older Juniors will make their own 
tracings from the patterns given them. 

The Juniors may be given animals to cut 
out, all kinds of animals mentioned in the 
Bible. These can be used for mounting in 
various stories. In looking for pictures keep 
in mind parables like the Good Samaritan, 
the prodigal son, the lost coin, the ten vir- 
gins, the sower, the tares in the field; also 
remember the many beautiful stories in the 
Old Testament, David and Goliath, David 
and Jonathan, Abraham, Moses, Joseph. 



48 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

Pictures from widely varying sources may 
be brought together and mounted to illus- 
trate these and other tales. 

Some workers also use the pictures for 
blacKboard-work. The picture is held firmly 
against the blackboard while the (chalk- 
filled) eraser is rubbed across the edges. 
When the picture is removed the outline 
stands within a softly illuminated border. 
Let the Juniors do this work themselves. 

An effective method of mounting the cut- 
out pictures is as follows : Take a fairly large 
sheet of white paper. Paste on this a smaller 
sheet of black or deep-colored paper, leaving 
a margin of from one to two inches of white. 
Then paste the figures on this black or 
colored paper. Figures of Jesus in various 
attitudes, the sower, the reaper, chickens, a 
shepherd, sheep, and symbolical figures like 
the dove or the crown, may be effectively set 
forth in this way. Silhouettes may be made 
by reversing this process, that is, by using 
black paper for the figures and pasting them 
on white. 

Many incidents of Old Testament history 
may thus be presented : Abraham building an 



PAPER-CUTTING 49 

altar; the sacrifice of Isaac; Cain and his 
offering; scenes from the life of David, and 
so forth. 

Enlist the interest and help not only of 
the Junior missionary committee, but also of 
the missionary committee of the Young Peo- 
ple's society, to assist you in securing a 
goodly number of pictures of missionary 
scenes. This will include pictures of houses 
in the various missionary countries, huts 
from Africa, houses and temples from Japan 
and China, and so on. Also pictures of chil- 
dren from all lands, household utensils, car- 
riages, labor, worship, everything, in fact, 
that carries an informing missionary mes- 
sage. Cut out these pictures and use them 
as patterns for the Juniors to copy and cut 
out. 

The method of cutting them out is to place 
the pattern on the paper to be cut and run a 
soft pencil around the outline. The Juniors 
will cut to this line. 

Some of the older Juniors will take pride in 
coloring the figures after they cut them out, 
crayons being used for this work. 

These figures may also be used for sand- 



50 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

tray work. To prepare them for this pur- 
pose paste on the back of them a piece of 
stiff cardboard which projects below the low- 
est part of the figure. Stick this part in the 
sand. In this way while telling a story 
houses, men, and animals may be placed in 
the sand, and the entire scene built up be- 
fore the eyes of the Juniors. Let the Juniors 
stick the figures in the sand. 

Handwork will thus become useful in the 
society's regular meeting. The Juniors will 
realize that their handwork sessions are not 
merely for pleasure, but that they have a 
real value. The superintendent should ever 
look ahead, watching the topics or lessons 
weeks in advance, and planning handwork 
that may be utilized at the proper time. This 
means additional thought and care (which, 
however, may be shared by assistants), but 
it will be more than repaid by the interest 
of the Juniors in the topics and in the so- 
ciety's work. 



USING COLORS 51 



USING COLORS 

Even the smallest Juniors may be set to 
work coloring picture outlines. Many stores 
carry pictures suitable for coloring in this 
way, but if such are not obtainable, let the 
Juniors color the figures cut out of paper by 
other Juniors. Crayons or crayolas will be 
best for small Juniors, older ones may use 
water colors. When pictures cut out of white 
paper are to be colored, use rather rough 
paper so that it may easily take the color. 

Older Juniors may use pastels instead of 
crayons, which make the blending of colors 
possible, and yield correspondingly better 
results. 



52 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



PAPER-TEARING 

Paper-tearing is akin to paper-cutting, 
only it is more difficult. The paper used 
must be easy to tear in any direction. Stores 
that carry kindergarten supplies usually 
have paper suited for this purpose. 

The pattern to be torn out should be drawn 
on the paper and the Juniors will then fol- 
low the lines marked out for them. All kinds 
of things may thus be torn out of paper, ani- 
mals, houses, flowers, articles of furniture, 
and so forth. They should be mounted on 
cardboard like patterns cut from paper. 

The superintendent or her assistant may 
take almost any Bible story, say that of 
Abraham, read it carefully, and make a list 
of scenes and articles that may be illustrated 
by paper-tearing or cutting. There are 
tents in which Abraham dwelt; there is the 
scene under the tree at Mamre where he 
talked with angels; the sacrifice of Isaac; 
canrels; and other things. Select a scene, 



PAPER-TEARING 53 

outline the objects necessary to bring it out, 
and then prepare a background on which to 
mount these objects. Let us say that the 
scene chosen is that of the meeting under 
the tree at Mamre. A tree will be needed, 
tents, figures of Abraham, Sarah, servants, 
and the angels. Outline these on white paper 
and let the Juniors tear them out. For a 
background use a sheet of white paper. Wash 
in with water color (or use crayon) a yellow 
foreground to represent the sand of the des- 
ert, patches of green suggesting scanty 
growth. A dash of purple against the hori- 
zon will suggest distant mountains. Paint 
the sky blue. Paste on this sheet, in the fore- 
ground, the figures torn out of paper. 

Another effective background for white 
figures is black paper torn in the shape of a 
mountain outline at the top and pasted on a 
sheet of blue paper. The blue represents 
the sky above the dark mountain, and the 
figures are pasted in the foreground against 
the black. 



54 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



WORK WITH STENCILS 

Stencils may be used in Junior work in 
various ways. In cases where it is difficult 
to find Juniors to draw figures on the black- 
board, stencils may be utilized. A piece of 
stiff paper is used for the stencil, and the 
pattern or figure is drawn on it by superin- 
tendent or assistant. A perforating needle, 
or a common awl, is then used to make holes 
along the lines of the drawing. To use the 
stencil thus prepared, place it firmly against 
the blackboard; take an eraser over which 
chalk has been rubbed and pass it over the 
lines of the stencil. When the stencil is re- 
moved the pattern will be outlined in chalk. 
It is easy then to draw the figure by follow- 
ing the lines thus indicated. 

It is not a bad plan to allow one of the 
older Juniors to make these stencils and let 
the younger ones use them in the meeting. 
In this case the subject will illustrate the 
topic. Not only may figures, houses, altars, 



WORK WITH STENCILS 55 

and symbolical patterns like lilies and palm 
leaves be used, but texts or mottoes may be 
stencilled and worked out on the blackboard 
by the Juniors themselves. 

It is better to use rather crude stencils 
made by the Juniors than to buy stencils 
which are works of art. 

Stencilling has a value that goes far be- 
yond the society. Juniors may find pleas- 
ure in making stencils — especially the older 
Juniors — and using them for draperies, for 
decorations on silk and velvet. 



56 HANDWORK FOB JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



ENVELOPES, BOXES, AND 
PORTFOLIOS 

Care must be taken that the Juniors do 
not get the idea that their handwork has no 
value. We must give them the stimulus of 
appreciation. Many societies will be able to 
purchase a glass case in which to make a per- 
manent exhibit of their handwork; other so- 
cieties may be able only to hold exhibitions 
at socials, or to display the work from time 
to time on a table in the church vestibule. 
Half the church members or more do not 
know what the Juniors are doing. It will 
do them good to see this exhibition and to 
realize that Junior work has a vital relation 
to the interests of young people. 

Junior handwork must first of all be cared 
for and made permanent. For the preserva- 
tion of handwork mounted on leaves suitable 
envelopes will be necessary; and also for 



ENVELOPES, BOXES, AND PORTFOLIOS 57 

handwork which the Juniors are allowed to 
take home. Cardboard boxes will be needed 
in which to keep models made of clay, plas- 
ticene, or papier-mache. These receptacles 
the Juniors should be taught to make them- 
selves. 

Those that wish to make a study of box- 
making and of paper-folding will do well to 
get a book on the subject. Works of this 
character are suggested at the end of this 
volume. But elementary work may be done 
by a superintendent by the simple method 
of taking a box apart and carefully observ- 
ing its shape and how it is put together. Cut 
then a pattern like the pattern of the box, 
mark the lines with pencil along which folds 
must be made, place a ruler along these lines, 
and fold carefully. The same pattern will 
do for various sizes of boxes, care being taken 
to keep the proper proportions. 

The same method may be used in making 
envelopes and portfolios. Take apart an en- 
velope about the size of those that you wish 
to use for the Juniors' handwork, cut a pat- 
tern, and show the Juniors how to do this 
work after you. 



58 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

Follow this principle with portfolios, if 
possible. A simple method is to take two 
sheets of bristol board, cardboard, or straw- 
board, of the size desired. At each end of 
each sheet draw a line about one and a half 
inches from the end and fold the end gently 
over, to constitute a flap turned inward. Do 
the same down one side of each sheet to make 
a front flap. With a pair of scissors snip 
off a V-shaped piece at the corners in order 
to make the flaps more easily fold over. 

Now take a strip of cloth about two or two 
and a half inches broad, the length of the 
sheets. Cover this cloth along its margins 
with glue, place it flat on the table, and lay 
the sheets on it, leaving a space of about half 
an inch or an inch between the edges of the 
sheets. Keep this under pressure until the 
glue hardens. This will make an excellent 
portfolio out of which sheets cannot fall. 

Better work will be done if instead of 
merely folding in the ends and front as sug- 
gested above, the same process is applied to 
these parts as is applied to the back. A cloth 
hinge of this sort makes a more flexible edge, 
and on the whole a neater job. 



ENVELOPES, BOXES, AND PORTFOLIOS 59 

This is the way to make covers also for 
birthday books, committee scrap-books, and 
so forth. In these cases, of course, there is 
no need for flaps, and if the book is small no 
cloth hinge or back is necessary. It is enough 
merely to fold the cover and sew in the 
leaves. 

Portfolios may be used not only for the 
preservation of the Juniors' handwork, but 
for holding leaves on which have been 
mounted jokes, short stories, pictures, and so 
forth, to be sent to hospitals. Flowers may 
also be mounted on sheets and kept in such 
a portfolio. 

If cardboard and paper are used instead 
of cloth, use paste and not glue. An ordi- 
nary flour paste to which a teaspoonful of 
alum has been added is excellent. 

The older Juniors may wish to use leather 
instead of paper or board for book covers. 
In this case glue paper inside the cover. No 
cloth need be inserted at the back. If there 
are only a few pages in the book they may 
be tied with fancy ribbon or cord. Many 
Juniors will take pleasure in mounting pic- 
tures illustrating hymns, or verses of Scrip- 



60 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

ture, on sheets of paper, decorating each page 
with a border, and writing on each page a 
stanza of a hymn or a verse of Scripture. 



BOOKBINDING 61 



BOOKBINDING 

If a superintendent wishes to teach the 
Juniors the intricate processes of bookbind- 
ing, a book on this subject may be procured 
and studied, and the superintendent will do 
well to visit a bindery and see the work done. 
It is also possible to take a book apart and 
study the process in that way. 

Ordinarily, however, Juniors need not be 
taken beyond the elementary stages of the 
art. The following suggestions are meant 
for beginners whose only experience has been 
in paper-folding and construction work. 

There is a fine opportunity here to teach 
the Juniors the necessity of having a definite 
plan before starting any kind of work. The 
first thing to do, therefore, is to determine 
the character of the book to be made, and 
then fix the size desired. A note-book to be 
carried in the pocket will be long and nar- 
row. A map-book will be large. Show the 
Juniors how to take a sheet of paper and fold 
it until a size that pleases is obtained. 



62 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



L 



Now have them measure this size and draw 
to this measure a sketch of both cover and 
leaves on separate sheets of paper. Let us 
say that the size of the cover is to be six and 
a half inches across, when it is spread open. 
The leaves must be one-fourth of an inch 
less all around, so that the cover projects a 
little beyond the leaves. 

The equipment needed will be scissors, rule, 
pencil, a wooden triangle (to square corners), 
a tapestry needle, paste, and paste brushes. 
It is handy also to have an eyelet punch. 

The materials used for Junior purposes 
are cardboard or newsboard. Better work 
will be done with newsboard for the stiff 
foundation. Some may want to use binders ' 
board, a finer material, but newsboard is ex- 
cellent. A bookbinder will doubtless let you 
have what quantity you desire. 

For cloth coverings vellum de luxe, art 
canvas, or art vellum may be used at small 
expense. There is a great variety of colors 
in these materials, but for class work quiet 
colors are best, dull green, deep red, and 
so on. 

Marbled paper is used for lining. For 



BOOKBINDING 63 

limp covers, screenings, cover paper, draw- 
ing paper, manila, and so forth, may be used. 
For the inside of the book, the pages, use 
page paper, drawing paper (which may be 
bought in several shades) or newspaper. 

The stitching is done with linen thread, 
silk, cord, or raffia. Eyelets may be bought 
in small boxes for a few cents. 

Having measured and ruled off the cover 
and one sheet for the inside (the cover being 
slightly larger than the sheet, all around), 
cut the cover, carefully following the lines. 
Then cut out the sheet for the inside. Take 
as many more sheetsi as you wish pages, 
usually three or four for small books, lay 
them out flat, place the cut sheet on them 
and at each corner pierce the sheets with a 
needle. Then take your ruler and rule off 
each sheet, guided by the holes you have just 
pierced in them. Of course it is possible to 
measure each sheet, but it is easier to get the 
exact size for all by boring holes at each cor- 
ner, using as a measure the first sheet cut out. 

Now lay the sheets on the cover and fold 
neatly down the centre. 

Take an awl and bore two holes, each about 



64 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

one and a half inches from the ends of the 
cover, if the book is large, through both sheets 
and cover, in the centre crease where they are 
folded. Bore yet another hole midway be- 
tween these two holes. 

Take your thread and needle and pass the 
needle from the inside through the centre 
hole, leaving three or four inches of thread 
inside. Then pass the needle from the out- 
side to the inside through the hole at the top ; 
then from the inside to the outside through 
the centre hole again ; then from the outside 
through the hole at the other end. Bring the 
end of the thread to the centre and tie it and 
the loose end together there. 

If you have used white drawing-paper for 
the cover and wish to color it, take some water 
in a glass and mix in a little water-color paint 
until the desired tint is attained. Avoid 
blue, which streaks easily. The best results 
are secured with green, pale yellow, brown, 
dull orange, and red. A good effect is se- 
cured if complementary colors are mixed 
together. 

Spread out the cover (this should be done 
before the book is made) on an inclined stir* 



BOOKBINDING 65 

face and apply the wash, beginning at the top 
of the book, and using a stroke running across 
the cover. Be careful that no dry spots are 
left, and that at the bottom any extra paint 
be taken up with the brush. 

The book will want a title. This the 
Junior will draw and color. 

Books of this character can be used for 
scrap-books, birthday-books, gift-books, and 
so forth. 



66 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



A CALENDAE PAD 

To make a calendar pad the materials re- 
quired are first of all a calendar block, then 
newsboard, some sort of vellum to cover it, 
paste, scissors, and so on. The pads make 
excellent gifts for shut-ins, not Juniors only, 
but older people; and they may be used as 
Christmas presents for the parents of the 
Juniors. 

The first thing to determine is the size of 
the pad. To do this show the Juniors how 
to take the little calendar block and place it 
on a sheet of paper, marking off various sizes 
by laying pencils or rulers across the top and 
sides. Then measure the size that seems 
right and draw a sketch of it on a sheet of 
white paper. In this sketch indicate the 
place of the calendar. 

The calendar will be placed near the centre 
of the pad, but not exactly in the centre. 
The margins around the calendar may be the 
same width, except the bottom margin. This 
should always be a little broader than the 
margins at the top and sides. 



A CALEKDAB PAD 67 

As the Juniors will be working with paste, 
and it is essential, if the work is to be clean 
and neat, that the table on which they work 
shall be kept clean, have each Junior take 
three or four pieces of newspaper of the same 
size and place them, one above another, on 
the table. Work on these papers. If one of 
them gets dirty or sticky, it is easy to remove 
it and have a clean surface below. The table 
is also protected in this way. 

Now cut the newsboard to the size desired. 
This is hard work for small Juniors, so it 
may be better to have older boys cut it either 
with strong scissors or a paper cutter or knife. 
Do not risk accidents by letting small Juniors 
use knives. 

Take a piece of vellum a little larger than 
the newsboard and place the newsboard flat 
upon it. With a pencil run a line around 
the newsboard on the vellum, which, of 
course, should lie with the inside up. Now 
cut the vellum, leaving a margin of one-fourth 
or one-half an inch outside the pencil lines. 
Never use the vellum border. Always cut 
this off. 

Now take the paste brush and cover the 



68 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

vellum inside the pencil lines with a coat of 
paste. Do this quickly and neatly, taking 
care that every part of the vellum is covered. 
Look along (not down at) the vellum, toward 
the light, and you will at once see dry spots 
if there are any. 

Place the newsboard neatly on the vellum, 
exactly within the pencil lines. Rub it 
firmly to fix it on the vellum. Then seize the 
newsboard by the centre (if you grasp it by 
the edges you are liable to dry spots of the 
paste) and turn it neatly over. The vellum 
side will now be toward you. Take a cloth 
and rub it firmly, every part of it, making 
sure that the vellum is pressed closely to the 
newsboard and that there are no air-bubbles 
left. 

Now turn the newsboard over again. Fold 
over the edges of the vellum. The corners, 
of course, will not fit. Take the doubled part 
at each corner and pinch it so that it stands 
up. Take your scissors and cut off the part 
that stands up. Do this with the four cor- 
ners, put a layer of paste along the margin, 
and fold the margin over, pressing it firmly 
down on the newsboard. 



A CALENDAR PAD 69 

To cover the back of the pad, cut a piece 
of vellum about one-eighth of an inch nar- 
rower than the newsboard. Place this vellum 
on the table, inside upward, cover it with a 
layer of paste, and place the newsboard care- 
fully upon it. Press the vellum to the news- 
board with a cloth, as you did with the other 
side. 

Make a mark at the exact centre of the 
upper margin and punch a hole with an eye- 
let punch. Pass a pretty piece of ribbon 
through this hole and tie it with a bow knot, 
a loop being left at the back to hang the 
calendar by. Now paste the calendar or pic- 
ture on the pad. Place all under a weight 
to dry. It is best to let it stand under the 
weight for twenty-four hours. 

Another method of cutting the corners of 
the vellum is to draw slanting lines from the 
outside of the vellum toward the newsboard, 
at the corners, and cut out the corners within 
these lines. Try this with a piece of paper 
so that you may see the exact position of the 
lines before cutting the vellum. 



70 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



A MEMORANDUM PAD 

A memorandum pad is made in precisely 
the same way as a calendar pad. Cut the 
newsboard about one-eighth of an inch 
broader than the pad it is to hold. Paste on 
the vellum on one side of the newsboard, fold- 
ing over the edges as in the case of the cal- 
endar pad. Cut another piece of vellum one- 
eighth of an inch narrower than the news- 
board, but before pasting this on, prepare 
a pencil holder for the pad in this way. 
Take a piece of vellum two-thirds or one- 
half as long as the pad, a strip half an inch 
broad or so. Fold in and paste the short 
ends, an eighth of an inch, in order to make 
a finished edge. Now place this strip around 
a pencil and paste the inside edges that come 
together. Do not remove the pencil, but 
place the holder with the pencil in it in its 
proper place on the newsboard on which some 
paste has been spread to receive it. Now 
take the vellum for the back and place it in 



A MEMOKANDUM PAD 71 

position, covering the edges of the pencil- 
holder. Eemove the cardboard from the back 
of your block and paste the block on the 
vellum-covered newsboard you have just pre- 
pared for it. Let the whole dry under a 
weight. 

A blotter is made in the same manner, and 
it may be of any size. The corner pieces of 
vellum are pasted on in the same way as the 
pencil-holder is pasted to the newsboard. 
The size of the corner pieces will depend on 
the size of the blotter. 



72 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



HOW TO MAKE A CHECKERBOARD 

A checkerboard is made exactly like a 
blotter, but a different size. Cut the vellum 
and the newsboard in the usual way and paste 
the vellum on the newsboard. If desired 
corners may be made and put on as in the 
case of a blotter. If corners are not wanted, 
then paste the second sheet of vellum (which 
must be cut about one-eighth of an inch 
smaller than the newsboard) to the news- 
board. 

The checkers should be made on the other 
side. In measuring the size of the board 
calculate the size of the squares and leave a 
proper margin all around the board. Also 
see that vellum of a suitable color is chosen. 
Green vellum is good if black squares are to 
be used. 

When the board is dry rule off the squares 
with pencil. Only alternate squares need be 
colored. Water colors, crayolas, or even pen- 
cil may be used. If water colors are utilized, 



HOW TO MAKE A CHECKERBOARD 73 

use as little water as possible. Experiment 
with the putting on of color on a separate 
piece of vellum. A good way is to cover the 
vellum with the powder of chalk in order to 
take off the glaze from the vellum. Brush 
off superfluous chalk before applying the 
paint. When the paint is dry wipe the chalk 
from the other squares. 



74 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



SCRAP-BOOK OR POSTAL-CARD ALBUM 

The scrap-book may be made with hinged 
covers, which makes a neat job. Newsboard 
is used for the solid base of the covers and is 
covered with vellum in the usual way, except 
that provision must be made for the hinge. 
Cut the newsboard covers to the proper size. 
Take one board and place it on a sheet of 
vellum, draw pencil lines around the board 
on the inside of the vellum; cut the vellum 
one-quarter of an inch outside this line 
around three sides of the board, leaving the 
inside end of the vellum, where the book will 
bend, untouched for the present. 

Now cut another strip of newsboard the 
length of the book, and from one inch to one 
and a half inches broad. This is to form the 
solid back of the hinge. Now place this strip 
on the inside of the vellum which you have 
left uncut ; leave a space of about one-eighth 
of an inch between the strip and the end of 
the newsboard — just enough to hinge prop- 
erly. Paste the vellum to this strip and cut 



SCRAP-BOOK OR POSTAL-CARD ALBUM 75 

the vellum about two inches beyond the end 
of the strip. 

Prepare the other cover in the same way, 
but without leaving any vellum on which to 
paste a strip. Now paste the end of this sec- 
ond cover to the vellum hinge flap on the first 
cover. Lay out the covers flat, inside up- 
ward, and cover the whole with tough paper, 
or with a large sheet of vellum. 

It is usual, in order to strengthen the 
hinges, to cut and cover with vellum on one 
side two newsboard strips about one and a 
half inches broad and the depth of the book, 
and paste them on the outside of the covers 
at the hinges. Punch two holes for eyelets 
through each cover, about half an inch from 
the back, and exactly opposite one another. 

For leaves take a double sheet of drawing- 
paper and fold it so as to make two leaves, 
placing the fold inward at the hinge. Some 
workers cut strips of tough paper and place 
them between each two leaves, which strength- 
ens the book. Other workers take a double 
sheet and first fold it down the middle. Then 
they draw with pencil a line about one inch 
from each side of this fold, and fold the sheet 



76 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

again on each of these outside lines. The 
middle line is pushed in, making a V-shaped 
crease of four-ply paper, which also greatly 
strengthens the book. Try this with a sheet 
of paper and you will see how simple it is, 
and how practical. 

Holes must be bored in the sheets or pages 
to correspond with the holes in the covers. 
To do this take one sheet and place it in 
proper position in the book. Eun a sharp 
needle through the holes in the covers and 
penetrate the sheet. This will mark the posi- 
tion of the hole. Then use the eyelet punch 
to punch the holes in the page. 

If desired take this first page, thus marked, 
and place it on the top of several other pages ; 
push a needle through the hole down through 
the other pages. All may thus be marked at 
once, but they should be punched singly. 

When the leaves are placed in the book 
bind them with cord or colored ribbon. Tie 
the ribbon in a bow on the cover. 

Use drawing paper for leaves. If you 
make a postal-card album, slits may be cut 
in the leaves to receive the corners of the 
postal cards. 



TANOY BOXES 71 



FANCY BOXES 

Juniors may construct boxes out of paste- 
board or newsboard. Or they may take 
ready-made boxes and cover them with vel- 
lum on the outside and fancy paper in the 
inside. It is a simple matter to take a single 
piece of cardboard, measure off a box, cut the 
cardboard so that the corners of the sides and 
ends when folded come properly together, 
and paste the whole together. Take almost 
any box apart and see how it is done. When 
you fold the sides and ends together, use 
stay tape to bind the corners, if the box is to 
be strong. A strip of vellum does very well 
if no special strength is required. Then 
cover the box with vellum, which should over- 
lap the top and be turned inside the box. 
The lid is made in the same way. 



78 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



OTHER ARTICLES 

It will be an easy matter for the superin- 
tendent, with the foregoing principles and 
methods of handling newsboard and vellum 
in mind, to plan and make, and teach the 
Juniors to make, a great variety of articles. 
It is always well to study carefully an article 
of the kind you wish to make, and think out 
the process before you begin to work; and it 
is also well to make dimensioned drawings 
before starting actual work. 

Thus a case for holding postal cards may 
easily be made, portfolios for holding letters, 
newspaper-racks, picture frames, photograph 
frames either to hang or to stand up, stands 
on which to hang watches, and so forth. 



PAPER-FOLDING 79 



PAPER-FOLDING 

There are many objects that may be imi- 
tated in paper by the simple process of fold- 
ing the paper. Some people have a positive 
genius for this kind of work, and if there is 
one so gifted in the community, the superin- 
tendent or her assistant should either secure 
his or her services^ or take lessons. There 
are books on paper-folding on which dia- 
grams of the process are shown, and such 
books ought to be obtained and studied. 
Tents, boats, houses, stars, boxes, picture 
frames, letter-racks, and a host of other 
articles may be made in this way, and may be 
used to illustrate the topic. Indeed, there is 
no reason why they may not be made in the 
meeting as a part of the expressional work of 
the Juniors. In connection with a sand-tray 
articles imitated on the spot in folded paper — 
the work being assigned beforehand to a 
Junior who will practise making the article 
called for — are an invaluable adjunct. 



80 HAITOWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



COPING-SAW WOEK 

Boys especially will enjoy coping-saw work, 
although some girls take gladly to it. The 
work is done in thin wood (the wood of cigar 
boxes used to be in great favor). Practically 
all that can be done in cardboard may be 
done in wood, and the wood has the ad- 
vantage of greater permanency. It is obvi- 
ous that Bible articles, lamps, houses, tents, 
symbols, figures, furniture, and also toys to 
be given to shut-in Juniors, or to be sent to 
children's hospitals, may be made by the 
Juniors. In the case of Bible articles, when 
a story is to be told in which these articles 
are to be used, the sand-tray is necessary, the 
objects being placed upright in the sand. 

For beginners soft wood is best, yellow 
pine, bass wood, or holly. The Flemish Art 
Company, New York City, sells three-ply 
wood that will not warp ; but any kind of thin 
boards will do for ordinary work. Trace the 
pattern on the wood and use a fine saw. Al- 



OOPING-SAW WORK 81 

most any hardware store will be able to suppl y 
you with the proper kind of fret saw. An 
awl is used to bore holes through which to 
pass the saw in order to reach certain parts 
of the pattern. 

Older Juniors will be able to make scroll 
work to be glued on thicker wood to form 
picture frames. 

Bible texts cut out of wood will also en- 
gage the interest of the older boys. A society 
motto might be made and kept before the 
society. The Christian Endeavor or the so- 
ciety monogram may be cut out, and some 
ambitious Junior, especially expert at draw- 
ing letters and cutting them out of wood with 
the coping saw, might even attempt to cut out 
the Junior pledge, glueing the letters or 
words on a board made to receive them. 



82 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



WHITTLING 

Knife work offers a splendid opportunity 
for older boys and girls. It has the advan- 
tage over cardboard work or work with the 
coping saw that the objects are not flat, but 
rounded out like the real article. It is espe- 
cially suitable for making articles to illus- 
trate both Bible and missionary work: fur- 
niture, implements of agriculture, houses, 
animals, and so forth. 

This work should be done by boys and girls 
above the third or fourth grade in day school. 
In many cases they will be getting this work 
in school, so that in the society we are merely- 
applying their partially gained knowledge in 
the interest of religion. 



MODELLING CLAY AND PLASTIGENE 83 



MODELLING— CLAY AND PLASTICENE 

If the superintendent has found it difficult 
to get assistants to aid her in her work with 
the Juniors, let her prepare an energetic at- 
tack on the Senior or the Intermediate society 
in this way. Take to the meeting a large 
lump of modelling-clay or a piece of plas- 
ticene. Hold up to the members an object 
to be modelled, an oriental lamp, for instance. 
Give to each member a piece of clay and ask 
each one to try to reproduce the lamp in 
clay. The young people will rise to the chal- 
lenge. Then the superintendent may ex- 
plain the kind of handwork the Juniors are 
trying to do and call for volunteers, after 
pointing out the religious value of the work. 
It will help if some samples of the Juniors' 
work can be shown. 

. Juniors are just . as eager to model in clay 
as young people are. All they need is clay 
and their ten fingers, although for finer work, 
small wooden modelling-knives may be bought 



84 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

at almost any store that carries kindergarten 
supplies. It is well to have a roofing slate 
for each Junior, on which to place the clay 
which is being worked over. If you live near 
a pottery it will be easy and cheap to secure 
an excellent modelling-clay. A supply of it 
may be kept wet in flowerpots. When mak- 
ing an article in two or more parts, which are 
then stuck together, some of the clay should 
be made about the consistency of cream and 
used as glue is used. Plasticene is often 
used instead of clay. It is cleaner, but a 
great deal more expensive. It may be pur- 
chased in stores that sell kindergarten sup- 
plies. A mixture of very fine sand, flour, 
and water, to which a small quantity of alum 
is added, makes a very good material for this 
kind of work. 

In a boys' or girls' club children will model 
a great variety of articles, but we are think- 
ing just now of clay-modelling as a help to 
the study of a Bible topic. The work will 
therefore be confined to objects that have re- 
ligious value ; but it will be found that this 
is a very large field indeed. 

Clay-modelling, like whittling in wood, has 






MODELLING— CLAY AND PLASTICEISTE 85 

the advantage of enabling the worker to re- 
produce in three dimensions the article he is 
modelling. Pictures in books and magazines 
and books of travel, illustrations in Bible 
dictionaries and Sunday-school works, and 
picture postal cards from foreign coun- 
tries, will supply ideas for modelling. Clay 
may be used for making oriental houses and 
furniture, for making pottery of the shape 
used in Bible times, for making animals, and 
so forth. 

If pictures of good statuary, especially 
such as represent Bible subjects, can be se- 
cured, the older Juniors may try to reproduce 
the pictures in clay. Modelling knives will 
be necessary for this. Such work has value 
for the development of the artistic sense in 
Juniors. 

The objects made by the Juniors may be 
used in connection with the sand-tray when 
Bible stories are told or a scene is to be 
built up. 



86 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



RAFFIA WORK 

The making of raffia baskets, rugs, furni- 
ture, and other objects, has a wonderful fas- 
cination and develops in some cases a good 
deal of real skill. The art may be employed 
in the interest of religion not only by mak- 
ing beautiful articles to be used in illustrat- 
ing Bible stories, or life in mission lands, but 
also articles for gift purposes. We must not 
stop in our lessons at urging the Juniors to 
do good; we must find for them the oppor- 
tunity to do good, and thus lead them actually 
to practise benevolence. A precept is well 
enough, but it is made immensely more valu- 
able if practice is added to it. 

Juniors, then, who learn to make baskets 
may use them for gifts to other Juniors at 
Christmas, or may send them to shut-ins, or 
to hospitals. The baskets will be filled, of 
course, with candy. Or Juniors may make 
work-baskets for mother, or baskets in which 



RAFFIA WORK 87 

to keep handkerchiefs, or even father's 
collars. 

Work of this kind is done in raffia, reed, 
and sweet grass ; but of course the method is 
the same in each case. Raffia may be bought 
in its natural color — cream — or dyed. It is 
just as well, since the colored varieties cost 
a good deal more than the uncolored, to buy 
raffia in its natural state and color it, if de- 
sired, with dye. The raffia may be colored 
before using, or the basket may be dyed when 
it is finished. 

The busy superintendent, of course, cannot 
be expected to do all the work in a handwork 
class, or study all the possibilities of such an 
undertaking. An assistant should be secured 
for each important subject, or for two or 
three subjects. There are plenty of young 
girls who would be glad of the opportunity 
to teach Juniors some art, like that of raffia 
work, and who would be keen to make a per- 
sonal study of the work in order to fit them- 
selves to teach. 

Raffia work is not so difficult as it seems 
at first sight. The assistant who undertakes 
to teach the art in the class would do well to 



88 HANDWORK FOB JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

secure a book that deals with the subject. 
We cannot hope to do more in these pages 
than to point out the way. A careful ex- 
animation of any basket — and of course the 
simpler forms will be used first — will reveal 
the method of working, and then success is 
simply a matter of imitation and patience. 

Raffia may be purchased from firms that 
carry kindergarten supplies or materials for 
Indian basketry. Different effects are se- 
cured by the use of raffia in various grades, 
and flat reed as well. It is always well to 
work with raffia that has been steeped in wa- 
ter to make it pliable. 

The basis for the simplest kind of raffia 
work, suitable for very young Juniors, is 
pasteboard, around which raffia may be 
wound. Mailing tubes are also used for this 
purpose. 

For tools you must have sharp scissors, a 
knife, a ruler, and compasses, A worsted 
needle with a very large eye is also essential. 

A good rule to follow and to teach the 
Juniors is to wind the raffia firmly and hold 
it tight, since it may otherwise shrink too 
much and expose the pasteboard foundation. 



BAFFIA WORK 89 

Do not tie knots in the raffia. Fasten all the 
ends, except the last end, by holding them 
down and winding another strand of raffia 
over them. To fasten the ends of the raffia, 
after the pasteboard foundation has been cov- 
ered, pass the strand through the eye of a 
needle and sew it into the work as one would 
fasten an ordinary thread. 

Sometimes a pasteboard disc is used as the 
foundation for a basket. Older Juniors will 
be able to weave a circular bottom out of 
raffia, but small Juniors will prefer to use a 
disc. In this case the raffia should be wound 
over the disc more than once. The strands 
should be spread, like the spokes of a wheel, 
at the first winding, and then the exposed 
parts of the pasteboard can be covered at a 
second or even third winding. An exactly 
round disc may be got by using the com- 
passes. If you have no compasses, use the 
mouth of a cup. Turn the cup, mouth 
downwards, on the pasteboard, and draw a 
circle around it with a pencil. Cut on this 
circle. Discs of different sizes may be made 
by the simple expedient of using cups or 
plates of different sizes. 



90 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



A NAPKIN RING 

Take a piece of mailing tube about two 
inches long for the foundation of the ring. 
Now take a piece of raffia, place the end on 
the inside of the ring and wind over it (to 
hold it down), continuing to wind until the 
pasteboard is fully and neatly covered. The 
end strand should be put through the eye of 
a needle and sewed into the raffia on the 
inside of the ring. The winding is not done, 
of course, around the outside of the ring, but 
down through the inside, up over the outside; 
and so on, until all is covered. 

For more difficult work, instead of a sin- 
gle pasteboard ring, broad strands of raffia 
or cane may be used, and the thin raffia strips 
may be wound around these, in and out, as 
in basket work. 



A CALENDAR 91 



A CALENDAR 

Take a pasteboard disc of the size wanted. 
This size can be determined by holding the 
calendar pad on a piece of paper and roughly 
running a circle around it with a pencil. In 
marking the pasteboard, use compasses. 
Cover the disc in the manner indicated above, 
bore holes through the disc and the calendar 
pad, and fasten the pad to the disc by means 
of colored ribbon, which should be tied in a 
bow in front. 

Bore two more holes in the upper part of 
the disc, toward the sides, and pass a colored 
ribbon through them, suspending the disc by 
means of the ribbon. 

In making such a pad, older Juniors may 
discard the pasteboard foundation and make 
a circle of raffia alone. Strands may be put 
together like the spokes of a wheel and raffia 
woven into them; or thin strands of raffia 
may be plaited together and wound into a 
circle, beginning at the centre, the whorls be- 
ing sewed together. 



92 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



A PINCUSHION AND A STAMPBOX 

First make a ring somewhat like a napkin 
ring as already explained. Then make a disc 
the exact size of this ring. Cover both ring 
and disc with raffia. Place the ring on the 
disc and sew them together. You have now a 
little circular box of raffia. 

Now take a pad of cotton-wool and cover 
it with a piece of silk. Press this into the 
circular box, and your pincushion is ready 
for use. 

A stampbox is made in the same way as 
the pincushion, except that it has a lid. The 
lid should move on a single raffia hinge, or 
the hinge may be a colored ribbon tied into 
a bow. 



MOKE RAFFIA WORK 93 



MORE EAFFIA WORK 

The above suggestions deal with winding 
raffia around a base. Juniors, however, will 
want to do more than this, and more will be 
necessary if raffia is to be used for the illus- 
trating of Bible subjects or missions. Pleated 
work will be used for the roofs of huts, for 
the sides of houses, and so forth. 

Raffia work for gifts will be popular. The 
following are suggestions for a few articles 
that may easily be made by very young 
Juniors, using pasteboard as a base. A 
holder for burnt matches, a pen-wiper, a tray 
for holding pins, a book for holding needles, 
a whisk-broom-holder, a handkerchief case, 
picture frames, or photograph frames, a back 
for a thermometer, a scrap bag, a match- 
strike, and various kinds of boxes. 



94 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



CONSTRUCTION WORK 

It is usual to confine construction work to 
paper and cardboard, the objects, houses, 
animals, and so forth, being cut out and 
placed in proper position on a sand-tray or 
mounted on a sheet of cardboard. For quick 
work this is excellent, but it is possible to 
use other materials besides paper, for ex- 
ample, raffia work, clay, plasticene, papier- 
mache, reeds, rushes, and wood. A combina- 
tion of these materials is best. 

For example, wood (cut with coping saw), 
or cardboard, may be used in making houses, 
churches, and walls of ancient cities. It will 
be easy to draw lines to indicate the stones 
of buildings and walls, and some Juniors may 
even color the walls with water colors or 
crayolas. In missionary lessons raffia and 
reed may be used with which to construct 
houses and churches. Pictures in missionary 
magazines and books will supply models to 
follow. Juniors, however, will get a far bet- 



CONSTRUCTION WORK 95 

ter and more vivid idea of African huts, or 
Japanese pagodas, or Indian temples, or 
Korean churches, or African idol-shrines, if 
they construct a model, or see one constructed 
by another Junior, than if their ideas are 
based on pictures alone. It is not necessary 
to make elaborate models for ordinary work. 
Cardboard is good enough for ordinary 
houses, the roofs being constructed of corru- 
gated paper. Pillars may be made of rolled 
paper, or paper wound around sticks. Raffia 
or reed may sometimes be used for roofs 
when the houses are in lands that use thatch. 
The houses of Palestine, flat-roofed and with 
open courtyards, may be made of paper col- 
ored to represent stone construction. Many 
houses of the poor were of clay, and for them 
clay may be used. A missionary compound 
may be copied from a missionary book on 
China. In such cases the whole scene should 
be mounted on cardboard. 

When the superintendent wishes to tell a 
Bible story which has in it scenes that may be 
presented by means of handwork, the sand- 
tray may be used to advantage. On it hills 
and valleys are easily made, and rivers are 



96 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

dug out. The water is represented by means 
of lengths of blue-colored yarn; lakes are 
made by pieces of glass, which may be colored 
blue on the under side. 

Cities may be represented simply by stones, 
or, more elaborately, by a cardboard wall, 
stones to represent houses being placed inside. 
When the story takes us to a definite house, 
a cardboard or wooden house should be used. 
It is a good plan to tell the story as the con- 
struction proceeds, and it is well to have the 
Juniors repeat the story after the work is 
done. 

The lives of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Da- 
vid, and Jesus offer abundant material for 
construction work of this kind. The super- 
intendent or her assistant should read the 
Bible record very carefully and note on a 
piece of paper the various scenes that may be 
built up on the sand-tray, and the objects 
which the Juniors may make. 

Tents may be made of paper or cloth, the 
poles, if cloth is used, being sticks or twigs. 
Where trees are in the picture, twigs or small 
branches of real trees may be utilized, the 
leaves being of green tissue paper. Wells 



CONSTRUCTION WORK 97 

may be dug in the sand, a circle of small 
stones around the top. Abraham's altar may- 
be represented by means of a stone. In the 
life of David his sling may be made, and one 
or two models of musical instruments, cut 
from wood, or made in clay or plasticene. 
In working up the story of Jesus the manger 
may be made of cardboard, the inn also, and 
the stable; the tools of the carpenter's shop 
may also be cut from cardboard. 

It is best not to attempt too much at one 
time. Divide up the life, the story of which 
is to be told, into sections, and present one 
scene at a time. Thus, for example, the story 
of David's battle with Goliath is enough for 
one lesson. 



98 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



THE MAKING OF MAPS 

Childhood's ideas of Palestine and sacred 
places are usually very vague unless a model 
of the country is used in teaching the geog- 
raphy of the Holy Land. The drawing and 
coloring of maps on paper has very little 
educational value for Juniors. Infinitely 
better is the sand map, the clay map, or the 
map made of papier-mache. 

Let us begin with the sand map. The 
materials necessary are a sand-tray and sand. 
The size of the tray will depend on the work 
to be done. If the Juniors are ambitious and 
wish to make a large-scale relief map, a three 
by four-foot tray may be used. If each of 
the Juniors is to make a map for himself or 
herself, small individual trays should be se- 
cured. 

The sand-tray for map work should be sand 
tight at least. Some trays are lined with 
zinc to make them water tight; but this is 
not really necessary, unless one wishes to use 



THE MAKING OF MAPS 99 

a great deal of water. The boys of the so- 
ciety will make trays of wood with sides an 
inch or more deep. In fact small boxes of 
any kind may be used at a pinch. If the 
tray is not water tight, care must be taken 
not to make the sand too wet. 

Some churches have large relief maps of 
Palestine. Such should be used as models. 
If your own church has not such a map, it 
may be possible to get permission to study a 
relief map in some other church, in order to 
get an idea of how the work should look. In 
doing the actual work a map of Palestine 
should be used, care being taken to get the 
right proportions with regard to the dis- 
tances between places. The general direc- 
tion and height of mountain ranges should 
be watched. Rivers are indicated by grooves 
drawn in the sand, and blue yarn, to repre- 
sent water, is placed in the grooves. Some- 
times the bottom of the tray is colored blue 
and left bare to represent lake or sea; but it 
is easier to use bits of glass for this purpose. 

Cities are represented by a few small 
stones, and houses may be indicated by 
miniature models in paper or cardboard. 



100 HANDWORK FOB JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

The sand must be wet enough to adhere 
sufficiently to make the mountains. The full 
map of Palestine may be used in teaching 
the history of Israel and Judah. Maps of 
smaller sections may be utilized for teaching 
parts of history, such as the Exodus. The 
wanderings of the children of Israel may be 
traced on a sand-map as in no other way, a 
red cord or piece of yarn being stretched 
from place to place as the story proceeds, and 
the various scenes on the journey may be 
presented in connection with the map, in 
construction work in clay or cardboard. The 
Juniors will take pleasure in making a model 
of the tabernacle in the wilderness. In the 
same way parts of the story of Jesus may be 
taught with the help of a relief sand-map, 
the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings 
being outlined on it and carefully traced as 
the various events are presented in construc- 
tion work in another setting. 

In general, in making a map, first fix the 
relative position of large bodies of water, the 
outline of the Mediterranean, the Dead Sea, 
and the Sea of Galilee, and then fill in the 
land, the plains and mountains between. It 



THE MAKING OF MAPS 101 

may make the work easier for some Juniors 
to prepare first an outline of the map on 
paper, place the paper on the sand-tray, and 
build up the map on top of the paper. In 
this case the sea and lakes may be painted 
blue on the paper and left free of sand. 

Maps of this kind may be made of clay as 
well as sand. The clay is dirty and not very 
satisfactory, as it tends to dry while the work 
is being done. Plasticene is much better and 
cleaner. 



102 HANDWORK FOB JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



MAP WORK IN PAPIER-MACHE 

For map work which is designed to be per- 
manent papier-mache may be used. It is 
easy to make, cheap, and durable. Take, or 
rather get the Juniors to take, a number of 
soft newspapers and tear them into very small 
pieces, the smaller the better, and put the 
pieces into a pail. It is just as well to make 
a whole pailful. Blotters are excellent for 
this work, but they are expensive, and news- 
paper does very well. 

When the pail is full pour boiling water 
on the paper and let it stand five or six hours, 
or even longer, to soak. Then let a Junior — 
a boy — take a stick and stir up the contents 
of the pail, thoroughly macerating the mass. 
A quicker method is to use the hands for this 
purpose, kneading the pulp, tearing it apart, 
and pounding it until it is thoroughly broken 
up. When it is of the right consistency, pour 
off the surplus water, or strain it through a 
coarse cloth. The papier-mache will be bet- 



MAP WORK IN PAPIER-MACH^ 103 

ter fitted for the work if paste made of flour 
to which has been added a teaspoonful of 
alum to the pint of paste has been thoroughly 
mixed with it. This makes the pulp stick 
together. It should be added that the paper 
is more quickly reduced to pulp if it is boiled 
for an hour or two over a slow fire. 

The method of working with papier-mache 
is the same as with sand or clay. Squeeze out 
any surplus water as the pulp is used. It is 
customary to build the map on a piece of 
glass — if the map is a small one — and to set 
it aside to dry slowly. If it is dried in too 
great heat it is liable to crack. When it is 
dry the papier-mache may be removed from 
the glass by forcing a knife under it. 

When the map is dry it may be colored 
with water colors or with crayolas. The map 
may then be mounted on pasteboard. 

Maps of missionary countries, and maps 
showing Paul's travels, form interesting sub- 
jects for this kind of work. 

It remains to add that papier-mache may 
be used for modelling houses, furniture, ani- 
mals, and many of the objects suggested in 
other parts of this book. A model of Jeru- 



104 HAKDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

salem, showing the ancient walls, the temple, 
and many of the houses might be undertaken 
by older Juniors and exhibited at a church 
social and at Junior Christian Endeavor 
rallies and conventions. 



BLACKBOARD WORK 105 



BLACKBOAED WORK 

The blackboard may be used for many pur- 
poses in a Junior meeting. It will pay a so- 
ciety that has not a blackboard to go to the 
expense of buying one. A small blackboard 
will serve the purpose. Perhaps in most 
cases the Sunday school will share the ex- 
pense, for the Sunday school needs a black- 
board as much as the society. It is possible 
that the church may provide one. It belongs 
to the equipment of a church. Workers can 
not work satisfactorily without tools. 

The blackboard may be used to write topics 
and mottoes on, to write thoughts for sentence 
prayers, to write acrostics on, and the infor- 
mation committee may use it when giving 
statistics about Christian Endeavor work, or 
the missionary committee when giving statis- 
tics about missions. 

The blackboard, however, may be used most 
effectively for drawing. The first thing to be 
said in this connection is that the superin- 



106 HANDWORK fob junior societies 

tendent should permit the Juniors themselves 
to draw the illustrations of the topics. She 
may guide them, suggest how the work ought 
to be done, but the real educational value of 
the blackboard depends on the work's being 
done by the children. 

In Junior work as a rule the children are 
above seven, but even in a society, where the 
children's ages are under seven, the black- 
board may be used with good results. 

The impulse of childhood is to express it- 
self in some fashion. The child has an idea 
in mind, and the blackboard is its oppor- 
tunity to put the idea into definite shape. 
Very young children will use for the most 
part straight lines, like savages; the curve 
presupposes a certain amount of artistic de- 
velopment. A straight line will represent a 
man, a dog, a cow, and several straight lines 
will represent a house, in the thought of a 
child. A sloping line suggests a man run- 
ning; a perpendicular line, standing. Grad- 
ually the child begins to try to imitate form 
more closely, and this exercise sharpens his 
observation of objects as well as develops his 
sense of form. 



BLACKBOARD WORK 107 

The imagination of children plays around 
the crudest drawing and imparts vitality to 
it. We must remember this when drawings 
are very poor. They are not an end in them- 
selves, but a means to drawing out the latent 
talents of the Juniors and giving form to 
their conceptions of religion. 

If the blackboard is used for topic out- 
lines and mottoes, the initial letter will play 
an important part. This letter should be 
made large, and some Juniors will learn how 
to ornament it. Juniors that do this work 
will be encouraged to find in magazines and 
books beautiful initial letters, copy them on 
paper, and reproduce them, when the occa- 
sion arises, on the blackboard. In this way 
there may be developed in Juniors an impulse 
toward the delightful art of lettering and 
illuminating. 

Outline pictures to illustrate the topic may 
be drawn, or a sketch to illustrate a story may 
be quickly indicated on the blackboard. In 
some cases stencils may be used as indicated 
in the section on stencil work. 

The Juniors should be taught, when using 
the blackboard, to stand back from it and use 



108 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

a stroke that comes, not from the wrist, but 
from the shoulder. To stand close to the 
board and work from the wrist is to invite 
failure. Blackboard work calls for bold and 
sweeping lines, and this effect can be ob- 
tained only when one stands free of the 
board and works on a large surface. 

Older Juniors may be taught to make 
artistic use of the blackboard. There are 
two methods of work, both good, and both 
should be used. 

First there is the method of drawing the 
picture with white chalk on a black back- 
ground, shading the figures by using the flat 
side of the chalk, and with a cloth rubbing 
off the chalk until the proper depth is at- 
tained. This is the common method and 
hardly needs explanation. It is the method 
called for when we are writing mottoes or 
drawing a hasty outline of a scene; it is the 
method of rapid and bold effects. 

The second method is that of covering the 
blackboard, or that portion of it needed for 
the picture, with chalk, using the flat side 
of the chalk to do this. Then the chalk is 
rubbed off to make the picture. 



BLACKBOARD WORK 109 

The manner of working is as follows. Take 
the flat side of the chalk and cover with a 
white coating the part of the blackboard to 
be used. Then take the palm of the hand 
and rub over the chalked surface until a 
cloudy effect is produced. The more chalk 
used, the whiter will be the blackboard. 

Now take a piece of chalk or a crayon and 
lightly indicate the lines of the picture to be 
brought out, paying strict attention to per- 
spective. With a cloth wipe off the chalk to 
make the figure or the scene. If the object 
is to be very dark use a damp cloth in wip- 
ing off the chalk. Usually the objects will be 
softly shaded, and the shading is produced 
by using a dry cloth which leaves some of the 
chalk on the part gone over. When high 
lights are required use fresh chalk to indi- 
cate them. When the Juniors once see the 
possibilities of this sort of work, they will 
take pride and pleasure in it. 

It should be said, however, that in order 
to do work of this kind the Juniors will need 
some instruction. If the superintendent can 
draw, she may practise the above method un- 
til fairly proficient in it. If she cannot draw, 



110 HANDWOEK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

she may look around for a member of the 
Young People's society who can, and who 
will teach the Juniors how to use the black- 
board in this fashion. A school teacher will 
probably be able to do this kind of work. 
But a great many young people who imagine 
that they never could get results in this way, 
will be agreeably surprised if they try. The 
educational value of good blackboard work is 
so great that it is worth the trouble of try- 
ing to secure the best help available for it. 



BOTTLE DOLLS 111 



BOTTLE DOLLS 

One of the most valuable helps that may be 
employed in Junior societies for the teaching 
of Bible, missionary, and other stories, is 
bottle dolls. They are easy to make, and the 
materials necessary are within the reach of 
all. 

First of all, bottles of various sizes are 
needed, but almost any home will supply an 
abundance of these — small ones, of course, 
are best. Then the workers will require 
some cotton cloth, tissue paper of various 
colors (for dresses), scissors, glue, string, 
needle and thread, and pen and ink, and 
cotton batting. 

The dolls are made in this way. Take a 
bottle and from cotton cloth cut a piece that 
will easily cover it. Cut a hole in the centre 
of the cloth and slip the neck of the bottle 
through the hole. Take some cotton batting 
and stuff it under the cloth to make the form 
of the shoulders and breast. Sew up the 
cloth fairly tightly around the bottle, after 



112 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

the form has been obtained as indicated. 
This cloth is the foundation on which the 
doll's clothes may be sewed. 

In oriental figures, where the dress is a 
drapery that covers the arms, it may not be 
necessary to put arms on the doll at all ; but 
if arms are desired, they may be made out 
of small rolls of cotton cloth and sewed on 
the cloth on the bottle. 

The head is formed by placing a piece of 
cotton batting around the cork, covering this 
with a piece of cloth, and tying the cloth 
around the neck of the bottle. If desired the 
loose ends of this cloth may be sewed down 
to the body cloth. This makes a neater job. 

A few strokes with pen and ink will in- 
dicate features and hair, or real hair may be 
glued on. For some characters hats or tur- 
bans will be needed. 

The costumes of the dolls must be made to 
fit the stories the dolls are meant to illustrate. 

Dolls have often been made out of clothes 
pins, but they are not so good as those made 
of bottles. The bottle dolls stand up well. 
They can easily be moved about as the story 
proceeds. 



BOTTLE DOLLS 113 

The society in the course of time may make 
a large collection of these dolls. It will be 
possible to have one to represent Jesus, and 
others to represent the twelve apostles, the 
father and mother of Jesus, His friends, and 
the people of the miracles and gospel story. 
Old Testament characters may also be made 
when it is desired to tell their stories. 

These dolls will make an interesting feature 
at an exhibition of Junior work in the 
church or at a Junior rally or convention. 

The dolls may be used in connection with 
the sand-tray and other equipment. When a 
story is told all the elements that enter into 
it should be shown and put in place. The 
Juniors, as we have already pointed out, will 
make cardboard houses, furniture, and other 
things for this purpose. When a sand-tray 
is used it will be easy to indicate plains, 
deserts, mountains, lakes, rivers, and so forth, 
as already explained in the section dealing 
with sand-tray work. 

It may happen, however, that the superin- 
tendent has neither sand-tray nor cardboard 
houses. Until these can be secured (and they 
will immensely increase the efficiency of the 



114 HANDWORK EOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

work done) the superintendent may use a 
table. Pasteboard boxes placed under a 
sheet on the table will suggest mountains. 
Two or three strands of blue yarn will sug- 
gest a river. A piece of glass will do for a 
lake or the sea. Small match boxes or jewelry 
boxes will serve for furniture, and larger 
pasteboard boxes will serve for houses. The 
imagination of the children will clothe all 
these things with reality. 

In telling the story the teacher or the 
Junior who is telling it should move the dolls 
about according to the necessities of the 
story. If the doll is supposed to look in- 
tently at anything, it should be bent over 
in the proper attitude. If it is supposed to 
pray, it should be made to look upward. If 
it is supposed to hold anything in its hand, 
the story-teller should place this object in 
the proper position so that the doll appears 
to hold it. In this way the story is made 
vivid and real, and makes a far deeper im- 
pression than if it were merely told in words. 

It is possible, of course, to take off the 
clothes of the dolls and array them in new 
garments to represent other characters. 



BOTTLE DOLLS 115 

There is no end to the possibilities in this 
method of presentation. If a story calls for 
a store, either a cardboard house may be used, 
the word "Store" being printed in front, or 
a cardboard box may be used instead. Fire 
is easily represented by means of small pieces 
of wood and red and yellow tissue paper. 

If the crucifixion scene is presented — and 
this is a difficult scene to present in an ade- 
quate way — the darkness may be indicated 
by turning out most of the lights and using 
a flashlight to indicate flashes of lightning. 

These bottle dolls are not made to be 
fondled. They become real boys and girls, 
or men and women, to the Juniors. 



116 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



MAKING POSTERS 

Most Juniors get drawing in school and 
they will appreciate the chance to try their 
skill at making posters advertising the meet- 
ings. 

Sheets of white paper about twelve by 
eighteen inches may be used. Cheap paper 
will do very well and may be got either in a 
stationery store or from a grocery store where 
such paper is often used for packing. Yel- 
low packing paper will do equally well, of 
course, if it is more easily procured. 

The proper equipment for lettering posters 
are several broad-pointed pens made espe- 
cially for this kind of work. They may be 
purchased from firms that sell school mate- 
rials, or if they have none in stock they will 
be able to get some for you. The ink used 
is India ink, but any kind of ink will do. 
Colored inks make a very effective poster. 

Some use small brushes for lettering, and 
they may be tried if the right kind of pens 
are not available. 



MAKING POSTERS 117 

Before the Juniors are asked to make post- 
ers, however, they should be given an oppor- 
tunity to practise lettering. The teacher 
should cut out letters from magazines and let 
the Juniors copy them. Or she may print 
large letters on sheets of paper and hang 
them before the class to copy. Some societies 
may be able to get books of letters, one book 
for each Junior, so that each child may work 
from his own book. In any case, the teacher 
should get a lettering book for her personal 
use. These books usually show how to go 
about drawing and spacing the letters. 

There is great variety in the style of let- 
ters, as readers of magazines know. The 
Juniors should be taught first to make all the 
letters in a simple style. Then other and 
more difficult alphabets may be added. Your 
bookseller may be able to find books that con- 
tain complete alphabets in a number of dif- 
ferent styles. 

The teacher should try to get a printer's 
catalogue, which contains not only a great 
variety of letters, but also ornaments of all 
kinds that will come in handy for borders 
of posters, or for illustrative purposes. 



118 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 

When the Juniors have mastered an alpha- 
bet let them try to make a poster inviting 
others to come to the meeting. The teacher 
will outline such a poster and ask the Juniors 
to copy it. 

Then give the Juniors free scope and ask 
them each to make a poster of his own. 

The Juniors may be allowed to illustrate 
their posters, or they may be shown how 
magazine illustrations may be cut out and 
pasted on the posters that they make. They 
should also be shown how to make borders 
for their posters. Every poster should con- 
tain the Christian Endeavor monogram. 

The Juniors should be warned not to 
crowd their posters. This is a common fault 
with beginners. Nothing stands out clearly. 
A good poster will have, first, something to 
attract the attention — a picture, a beautiful 
colored letter, a striking headline. It will in 
the second place feature the main object of 
the poster, to advertise a meeting. This may 
be done in several ways. The topic may be 
made to stand out in colored ink. Or the 
key-word of the topic may be made to stand 
out clearly. In the third place, a good poster 



MAKING POSTERS 119 

is not crowded. The lines are clearly spaced 
and the words do not run into one another. 
Finally, the illustration and the lettering 
on a given poster should first be sketched in 
pencil. This is necessary or the spacing will 
be sure to be wrong. Each Junior will have 
a measure so that he can measure the space 
for each letter. By and by, perhaps, the 
Juniors will be able to sketch a poster in free 
hand, but this is too much to expect at the 
beginning. 



120 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



SUPPLIES 

Practically all the materials mentioned in 
this book may be purchased from any store 
that carries a good assortment of school mate- 
rials. 

Plasticene is sold in small colored pieces, 
or by the pound. It is cheaper to buy it by 
the pound and color the articles moulded 
from it. 

Glue, paste, vellum, newsboard, paper for 
tearing and cutting, may be bought ready 
for use. 

Raffia, colored or in its natural state, is 
also sold by stores that carry school sup- 
plies, and also crayons, crayolas, and water- 
color paints. 

The simplest kind of paste is made by rub- 
bing up flour with cold water and then boil- 
ing it. The paste is made much better by the 
addition of a little alum before boiling. This 
makes it less clammy, it is more easily 
worked, and it is both thinner and stronger. 



SUPPLIES 121 

Paste of this kind, however, soon grows 
mouldy, so that only a small quantity should 
be made in this way at a time. 

Rice flour mixed with cold water and 
gently simmered above a slow fire will make 
a paste or cement that will serve most pur- 
poses of a handwork class. 

A good home-made substitute for plas- 
ticene for modelling may be made by taking 
flour and very fine white sand and mixing 
them with water. Eice flour is perhaps fully 
as good for this purpose as common flour. 
The flour should be worked to the consistency 
desired. Add a little alum. 

Coping saws cost about thirty-five cents 
for the frame and one dozen blades. They 
may be purchased in hardware stores. 



122 HANDWORK FOR JUNIOR SOCIETIES 



BOOKS ON HANDWORK 

The following are a few of many volumes 
that are published on various aspects of hand- 
work. These are school books, but superin- 
tendents of Junior societies will find prin- 
ciples and methods of work clearly described 
in them and will be able to apply the work 
to religious ends. They may be purchased 
from the United Society of Christian En- 
deavor, 41 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, 
Mass. 

"Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades, " by 
Rich. 

"Practical and Artistic Basketry,' ' by L. 
R. Tinsley. 

"Primary Handwork,' ' by Seegmiller. 

"Constructive Work," by Worst. 

"Correlated Handwork." 

"Paper and Cardboard Construction/ ' by 
Buxton. 

"Blackboard Illustrations," by Whitney. 

"Practical Basket-Making," by James. 



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